Retailer Philip Green.
Parliament TV/Handout via REUTERS
Around 50 MPs on Thursday unanimously backed a motion in UK parliament calling for Sir Philip Green to be stripped on his knighthood.

MPs from all parties voted in the backbench debate. The vote is non-binding but heaps pressure on the Honours Forfeiture Committee to consider stripping the retail billionaire of his knighthood, awarded in 2006.

Backbench MPs called Sir Philip Green a "billionaire spiv" who cried "crocodile tears" over his role in the collapse of BHS during a debate on whether the retail tycoon should be stripped of his knighthood.

Conservative MP Iain Wright, who co-chaired the parliamentary inquiry into the BHS collapse, launched the most explosive verbal attack on Sir Philip during the debate, saying: "He took the rings from BHS' fingers, he beat it black and blue, he starved it of food and water, he put it on life support and then wanted credit for keeping it alive."

Wright accused Sir Philip Green of "engorg[ing] on BHS to the tune of millions of pounds" to "enrich himself, his family, and his friends, at the expense of long-term and sustainable growth for the company."

He took the rings from BHS' fingers, he beat it black and blue, he starved it of food and water — Iain Wright MP

"Certainly profits were made [at BHS] but they were more akin to a short-term sugar boost than a nutritious diet that aided the long-term health and strength of the business," Wright told the House of Commons on Thursday.

He accused Green of overseeing a "drip-drip" decline of the chain and said: "Upon taking over the company he was able to cut costs, an achievement that should not be dismissed, but he was never able to boost turnover. So much for the King of Retail." Wright said the title was better applied to Zara founder Amancio Ortega and John Lewis chairman Charlie Mayfield.

Wright said Sir Philip ran BHS as a "personal fiefdom or a massive piggy bank," and called the collapse of the department store "one of the biggest corporate scandals of modern times."

Sir Philip Green declined to comment on the debate through a representative.

During Thursday's debate, Labour MP Frank Field, the other co-chair of the parliamentary inquiry, likened the collapse to a "Greek tragedy" and dubbed Sir Philip "a very successful traditional asset stripper."

Richard Fuller MP, who served on the BHS inquiry, told the house: "Were the actions of Sir Philip Green honourable? That is pertinent because he received his honour for services to retail.... Honour has to mean something in the behaviour of our businesses."

SNP MP Martin Docherty-Hughs said BHS' former owners were 'too busy quaffing champagne.'
Screenshot/Parliament.tv
SNP MP Martin Docherty-Hughs said those involved in running BHS both before and after the sale were "too busy quaffing champagne and sailing on their yachts to give a damn about the mess they've created."

And Labour's Clive Lewis accused Sir Philip of "jump[ing] ship like a proverbial rat from a sinking ship," with BHS "sold for a pound like a second-hand yo-yo."

Addressing the lawyers report, Frank Field told parliament on Thursday: "What Lord Pannick's report has shown is if you pay a lawyer and they're a friend of yours, they'll come up with the opinion that you want." (Lord Pannick, who coauthored the report, discloses within it that he is friends with Lord Grabiner.)

If Sir Philip does now have his knighthood rescinded he would be only the 8th person to face such a fate at the hands of the Honours Forfeiture Committee. The Honours Forfeiture Committee is an ad hoc committee convened by the Cabinet Office.

Fred Goodwin, the former boss of Royal Bank of Scotland, famously had his knighthood revoked by the committee in 2012 for the way he ran the bank in the run up to the 2008 financial crisis.